GOP Bid to Give More Aid to Business Runs Into Democrats’ Push for Broader Relief

Senate leader rushes to approve more funding for small-business loans, while Democrats also want more aid for hospitals, local governments

President Trump signed a historic $2 trillion bill into law in late March aimed at relieving workers and businesses hurt by the novel coronavirus pandemic. WSJ breaks down what is in the package. Photo: G. Ronald Lopez/Zuma Press

By

Andrew Duehren

Kristina Peterson

WASHINGTON—A Republican effort to quickly approve hundreds of billions of dollars in funding to support struggling small businesses’ payrolls ran into resistance on Capitol Hill, as Democrats proposed a rival, broader plan to bolster the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The partisan jockeying over what some lawmakers are referring to as an interim emergency package comes as Congress has strained to keep up with the accelerating public-health and economic crises sweeping the nation, even after quickly passing...